Essence, not personality, makes you a true spiritual being

A person had compatibility problems with his wife and finally, on the advice of a counsellor, the husband and wife parted ways. After some days, the man met his friend and the following conversation ensued.

“I heard you have broken your marriage with Sita?” asked his friend.
“Yes, it did not work and I had no feelings for her,” replied Vishnu.
“What about the marriage ring? Did you return it to her?” his friend questioned.
“No, I did not since my feelings towards the ring have not changed,” replied Vishnu.
Self-pity is an expression of a negative state. It creates an unpleasant inner chemistry and poisons our inner core. In that state, we don’t listen to our higher self and become internally deaf. These people take things personally. They lose objectivity. Self-love adds strength to the personality and not to one’s essence.

Our ego covers our true face. Hence, in Zen, it is said, ‘See your original face.’ It is extremely difficult to see self-love as we are caught in ego. We can see it through resentment, restlessness and hurt. Further, we do not let go of the hurt. Instead, we keep it deeply in us and start keeping internal accounts. All this is the manifestation of self-love and this creates disorder. Thus, terror surfs on the sea of humanity with its ugly face.

Etymologically, the word ‘personality’ is derived from the Greek word persona, which means ‘to speak through’. In ancient Greek, they used to dance wearing a mask. Hence, they saw through the mask. We put on a front or façade in daily activities of life that is ‘personality’, while ‘essence’ is our true being.

We have to make ‘personality’ passive and then only ‘essence’ will surface. This is essential for effectiveness in life and to stay on the path of transformation. For this, one needs to seek guidance from wise people. The very act of seeking guidance from others brings humility. You may ask whether one can transform by oneself. It is possible. The process will be extremely slow and is subject to a high probability of getting derailed. Alternatively, by drawing inspiration from wise people, one will gradually make their personality passive and thus bring in humility to learn from others. This is the first step.

Secondly, from the teachings of the wise people, one will understand that there are higher centres and lower centres in us. The ego is a lower centre and can appreciate only things like power, position, name, fame etc. This will further drown you and make your ‘personality’ rigid, which is the false self-becoming stronger. Higher centres connect to energies like love, giving, harmony, peace and gratitude, and in the process one’s pure being or essence is experienced.

If one is ‘personality-oriented, one becomes rigid. One’s point of view alone becomes relevant, and the well-being of either oneself or others is pushed aside. You can see this in the conflict among nations or people. ‘Personality’ is glorified in society since one’s point of view is more valuable than true well-being. People working in the corporate world need to be flexible to produce the result and not just fall in love with one’s point of view. To be successful in the corporate world, one has to derive strength from one’s ‘essence’ or the pure being. Such strength will make flexibility easily available to one. Essence makes you a true spiritual being.

Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru

<br /> A person had compatibility problems with his wife and finally, on the advice of a counsellor, the husband and wife parted ways. After some days, the man met his friend and the following conversation ensued.</p> <p>“I heard you have broken your marriage with Sita?” asked his friend.<br /> “Yes, it did not work and I had no feelings for her,” replied Vishnu.<br /> “What about the marriage ring? Did you return it to her?” his friend questioned.<br /> “No, I did not since my feelings towards the ring have not changed,” replied Vishnu.<br /> Self-pity is an expression of a negative state. It creates an unpleasant inner chemistry and poisons our inner core. In that state, we don’t listen to our higher self and become internally deaf. These people take things personally. They lose objectivity. Self-love adds strength to the personality and not to one’s essence.</p> <p>Our ego covers our true face. Hence, in Zen, it is said, ‘See your original face.’ It is extremely difficult to see self-love as we are caught in ego. We can see it through resentment, restlessness and hurt. Further, we do not let go of the hurt. Instead, we keep it deeply in us and start keeping internal accounts. All this is the manifestation of self-love and this creates disorder. Thus, terror surfs on the sea of humanity with its ugly face.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.84 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.84 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Etymologically, the word ‘personality’ is derived from the Greek word persona, which means ‘to speak through’. In ancient Greek, they used to dance wearing a mask. Hence, they saw through the mask. We put on a front or façade in daily activities of life that is ‘personality’, while ‘essence’ is our true being.</p> <p>We have to make ‘personality’ passive and then only ‘essence’ will surface. This is essential for effectiveness in life and to stay on the path of transformation. For this, one needs to seek guidance from wise people. The very act of seeking guidance from others brings humility. You may ask whether one can transform by oneself. It is possible. The process will be extremely slow and is subject to a high probability of getting derailed. Alternatively, by drawing inspiration from wise people, one will gradually make their personality passive and thus bring in humility to learn from others. This is the first step.</p> <p>Secondly, from the teachings of the wise people, one will understand that there are higher centres and lower centres in us. The ego is a lower centre and can appreciate only things like power, position, name, fame etc. This will further drown you and make your ‘personality’ rigid, which is the false self-becoming stronger. Higher centres connect to energies like love, giving, harmony, peace and gratitude, and in the process one’s pure being or essence is experienced.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.84 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.84 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>If one is ‘personality-oriented, one becomes rigid. One’s point of view alone becomes relevant, and the well-being of either oneself or others is pushed aside. You can see this in the conflict among nations or people. ‘Personality’ is glorified in society since one’s point of view is more valuable than true well-being. People working in the corporate world need to be flexible to produce the result and not just fall in love with one’s point of view. To be successful in the corporate world, one has to derive strength from one’s ‘essence’ or the pure being. Such strength will make flexibility easily available to one. Essence makes you a true spiritual being.</p> <p>Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru<br />